1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiographic image capturing system and a radiographic image capturing method for applying radiation from a plurality of radiation sources housed in a radiation output device to a subject, detecting radiation that has passed through the subject with a radiation detecting device, and converting the detected radiation into radiographic images.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the medical field, there have widely been used radiographic image capturing systems, which apply radiation from a radiation source to a subject and detect the radiation that has passed through the subject with a radiation detecting device in order to acquire a radiographic image of the subject. Radiographic image capturing systems that are installed in hospitals (medical organizations), for example, usually employ a thermionic emission radiation source, which is relatively large and heavy.
If such a radiographic image capturing system is directly used to capture radiographic images within hospitals while making rounds, or outside of hospitals, e.g., in medical checkup cars, at sites suffering from natural disasters, or at sites receiving home care services, then a large and heavy radiation source needs to be carried to such sites for capturing radiographic images. The process of carrying the radiation source to the site and setting up the radiation source at the site is quite burdensome for the doctor or radiological technician in charge. To solve this problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-103016 discloses a field-emission radiation source, which is smaller and lighter than a thermionic emission radiation source.